A Study on Absenteeism & its Co-Relation with Job...

G.J.C.M.P.,Vol.4(3):23-38 (May-June,2015) ISSN: 2319 – 7285

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A Study on Absenteeism & its Co-Relation with Job Satisfaction with Special Reference to IT Sector

Ms. Khushbu Dubey & Dr. Pooja Dasgupta

Asst. Professor, Indore Institute of Law, Indore

Abstract The dictionary definition of absenteeism is ‘the practice of regularly staying away from work or school without

good reason’. Management is an array of different concepts which involves specialization and specification of issues as

well as their solutions, especially related to that of an employee. Various theories have been put forth (namely Maslow’s

hierarchy of needs, Herzberg’s theory, etc.) to understand the growing needs of motivation and retention. Despite this

intensive research, most organizations face the problem of employees remaining absent from work, popularly known as

absenteeism. This paper lays emphasis on the authenticity and genuine reasons of an employee to stay away from work.

Hence, absenteeism is calculated on mathematical grounds as well as study based on questionnaire has been carried out

in order to find out the reasons pertaining to increase in absenteeism in recent times. Research has been carried out on a

leading pre-publishing service providing company in Indore. Pertaining to the privacy policy of the company, its name

has been concealed and is referred to as ‘Y company’.

INTRODUCTION Absence is the failure of worker to report for work when he is scheduled to the work. A work is to be treated as

absent for the purpose of this absenteeism statistics even when he does not turn up for a week after obtaining prior

permission. K.G. Desai classified absenteeism in to two types viz, authorized absenteeism and unauthorized absenteeism.

Authorized absenteeism is permitted absenteeism i.e., taking leave prior permission of an employer. Unauthorized

absenteeism means taking leave without prior permission of an employer. Absence of worker on account of strike or

lockout or layoff i.e., involuntary absent is not considered as absence for the purpose of absenteeism study.

Absenteeism rate is the percentage of man days lost due to voluntary absent (both authorized and unauthorized) to

the corresponding total man days schedule to work. It can be expressed as under:

Man days lost (both authorized and unauthorized)

----------------------------------------------------------- X 100

Man days scheduled to work

According to K.N vaid absenteeism can be measured with the help of the following formula

Persons not working due to

Authorized leave + unauthorized leave

Absence Rate = -------------------------------------------------------------------- X 100

Man shifts actually worked

According to the view of K. Aswathappa, Absenteeism costs money to the organization besides reflecting employee dissatisfaction with the company. Absenteeism is unavoidable when the employee himself or herself falls sick, His or her

dependents at home suddenly become unwell or there is an accident inside the plant. Unavoidable absenteeism is

accepted by managers and is even sanctioned by labor laws. Avoidable absenteeism arises due to night shifts,

opportunities for moon lighting and earning extra income, indebt ness, lack of job security, unfriendly supervision and

job dissatisfaction. This absenteeism needs intervention by the management.

Absenteeism is of two types –

1. Innocent absenteeism - Is one in which the employee is absent from work due to genuine cause or reason. It may

be due to his illness or personal family problem or any other real reason

2. Culpable Absenteeism - is one in which a person is absent from work without any genuine reason or cause. He may be pretending to be ill or just wanted a holiday and stay at home.

Many employees will, on occasions, need a few days off work because of illness, however, when absences become

more frequent or long term and reach an unacceptable level, action by management is necessary. Absence from work can

be expensive in both monetary and human terms. The costs incurred when an employee is absent from work may include:

(i) Replacing the employee or requiring other staff to cover the absence;

(ii) Inability to provide services, or achieve section and departmental objectives;

(iii) Low morale and general dissatisfaction from other staff, particularly if the absence is perceived as unwarranted


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Effects of absenteeism on Industry Absenteeism

↓ Affects production targets

↓ Increases the work load of inexperienced & less

experienced

↓ Leads to rejection of finished products

↓ Increases the cost of production

↓ Lowers the Profit margin

↓ Affects Industrial growth

Effects of absenteeism on the employees Absenteeism

↓ Reduces his earnings

↓ Adds his indebtedness

↓ Decreases the Purchasing power

↓ Leads to family problems

↓ Increases mental stress

↓ Leads to inefficiency in his job

↓ Loss of employment

Peculiar Features of Absenteeism On the basis of micro studies undertaken in different parts of the country, certain observations may be made.

a. The rate of absenteeism is the lowest on pay day; it increases considerably on the days following the payments of wages and bonus.

b. Absenteeism is generally high among workers below 15 years of age and those above 40. The younger employees

are not regular and punctual, presumably because of the employment of a large number of newcomers among the

younger age groups. While the older people are not able to withstand the strenuous nature of the work.

c. The rate of absenteeism varies from department to department within a unit. As the size of the group increases, the

rate of absenteeism goes up. This difference in the rate of absenteeism is believed to be due to the peculiar style and

practices of management, the composition of the laborer force and the culture of the organization.

d. The percentage of absenteeism is generally higher in the day shifts.

e. The percentage of absenteeism is much higher in coal and mining industries than in organized industries

f. Absenteeism in India is seasonal in character.

g. It is the highest during March-April-may, when a land has to be prepared for monsoon saving, and also in the harvest season, when the rate goes as high as 40 percent.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ‘Y’ is a company with 1,500 employees and it is a developing company getting a new reputation in the field of e-

publishing. So it is very essential for the company to concentrate in the employee’s commitment towards the work

assessed for him. It is also easier to find the employee’s satisfaction towards his job by conducting a study on employee

absenteeism which thereby helps the company to retain its employee, since it is found that there is a low rate of labor turnover in this company. So, this study will help the company to adopt measures to reduce absenteeism and to increase

the employee’s commitment towards his job by knowing the factors which remains as a hindrance for the employee to be

punctual towards his job.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY • To study the general causes for employee absenteeism • To analyse the workplace factors which leads to employee absenteeism in the organization

• To find out the most prominent general and work life factors that leads to absenteeism in the organization

PROFILE OF THE COMPANY Introduction

‘Y’ is one of the leading pre –publishing services companies, in the world providing end-to-end content

management and content transformation services including high quality digital typewriter-publishing services (SGML, XML) data conversion and related services for books and journals, for various publishers, press and corporate, around the

world. For over a decade, ‘Y’ has been offering a full range of high end publishing services for professionals and

educational books/journals, reference books, elementary high school and college text books, custom made course

material, user manuals and catalogues, financial and legal publications.

History ‘Y’ has emerged from a team of 5 in 1994 in over 1000 professionals today. ‘Y’ specializes in providing full service

project management-publishing for books and journals, data conversion services archival solutions and a host of value

added services. Having its headquarters in India, ‘Y’ has its global service delivery centers at Indore, and wholly owned

subsidiaries in UK (Cambrideshire) and USA ( Chicago & New York).

Leadership team Sriram Subramanian founder, MD and CEO, Y’s core management group consists of professionals with several

years experience in the IT industry. This group is backed up by a team of around 800 highly qualified professionals,

working together effectively with a willingness to explore new ideas and learn endlessly, setting exceptional standards of

performance and productivity, creating and enhancing value for our clients.


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Vision “By 2018 it plans to emerge as the world’s leading provider of end-to-end prepress and e-publishing services,

delivering superior returns to shareholders and profitable solutions to customers through empowered and professionally

skilled employees.”

Clients ‘Y’ has built its clients base in the past 16 years out of its sheer focus in customer satisfaction. ‘Y’ which is a

leading e-publishing company in India quotes that this client list was accomplished only by maintaining schedule

integrity, providing high quality deliverables, being flexible and adaptable and forging bonds of long lasting nature. Its

clients are, Elsevier, Pearson Education, Chicago University Press, Oxford University Press, Taylor & Francis, Wiley

Publications, Cambridge University Press, Palgrave Macmillan, Springer, Cengage Learning

Services ‘Y’ is one of the largest providers of prepress and electronic publishing services to almost all leading global

publishers and typesetters across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Today they are equipped to deliver a whole

gamut of value-added services that include end-to-end project management, editorial services, image management and

digital archiving besides traditional multilingual typesetting and data conversion services. Y’s capability extends across

lines of business such as books, journals, magazines, major research works, financial content management, translation and localization and new media publishing. As a full-service house, Y provides advanced e-publishing services using the

latest technologies like SGML/ XML and HTML, including SGML entry of scientific text comprising math and tables as

per the DTD supplied by the client. They offer a full range of high-end publishing services for

· books and journals

· Major reference works/ encyclopedias

· College & school textbooks

· Trade books

Editorial Services Production Other Services

Project Management Image processing Media

Copy-editing Cover page DTD development

Proofreading Data conversion Application development

Indexing Artwork creation Digital asset management

Language polishing Multi-language typesetting

Accuracy checking

Permissions research

Company Working Hours General shift- 9 a.m to 6 p.m

First shift- 10 a.m to 2 p.m Second shift- 2 p.m to 10 p.m

Third shift- 10 p.m to 6 a.m

REVIEW OF LITERATURE Theories of Absenteeism

Absence behaviour is discussed in terms of theories on absences such as the notion of the informal contract,

perceived inequity, and withdrawal from stressful work situations, dynamic conflict, social exchange, withdrawal, non-

attendance, organizationally excused vs. organizationally unexcused, involuntary vs. voluntary and lastly a four-category

taxonomy.

Informal Contract Gibsson (1966) attempted to explain some of the main features of absence behaviour by means of the notion of an

informal contract. The contract is viewed as being made between the individual and the organisation. Gibsson (1966) was especially interested in absences that were not long enough to activate formal legitimising (certification) procedures. He

used the concept of valence, referring to a person’s positive or negative relationships to a work situation and pointed out

that if the combined valences of a work situation are weak, it will be easier for people to legitimise their absences to

themselves.

Gibsson (1966) remarks that a plausible idea relating to the size of the organisation influences absence rates; in

larger organisations, since there is greater division of labour, there is also more concealment of the contributions of

individuals, thus permitting latitude for absence from work. He also mentions the importance of the employee’s

identification with the organisation, as in the case of longer-service employees, and argues for the importance of the

“authenticity” of the work contract (Gibsson, 1966). In other words, the organisation should be seen to offer a fair deal to

the individual, whose feelings of obligation would thus be strengthened.

In this research Gibsson’s (1966) concept of valence, referring to an individual’s positive and negative relationship toward a work situation has relevance, as the aim of this research is to determine whether work-related attitudes (Job

Involvement and Organisational Commitment) predict employee absenteeism. It is hypothesised that employees with low

job involvement and organizational commitment (negative relationship to the work situations) will have higher levels of

absenteeism.


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Resolving Perceived Inequity Adams (1965), Hill and Trist (1953) and Patchen (1960) have made notable theoretical contributions towards the

study of absenteeism. No recent literature has been identified which has built on this perspective. Adams (1965)

suggested that absences may be a means of resolving perceived inequity; the probability of absence behaviour will

increase with the magnitude of inequity and if other means of reducing inequity are not available. Patchen (1960) had

tested this kind of hypothesis; producing evidence of a relationship between absences and perceived fairness of pay, that is, employees’ feelings about how fairly they had been treated in regard to their pay levels and promotions.

Withdrawal from the Stress of Work Situations

In their study on absence, Hill and Trist (1953; 1962) contributed a theory of absence as being the withdrawal from

the stress of work situations. Withdrawal is the central explanatory concept; thus, individuals experiencing conflicts of

satisfaction and obligations tend to express them through labor turnover, accidents, and unsanctioned absences (this is,

absences without formal permission). In addition to the views of Hill and Trist (1962), Hanisch and Hulin (1991)

theorized that absenteeism and other withdrawal behaviors reflect invisible attitudes such as job dissatisfaction, low level

of organisational commitment, or an intention to quit. According to this view, an employee who is absent from work is

consciously or unconsciously expressing negative attachment to the organization.

Dynamic Conflict The ‘withdrawal’ explanation offered by Hill and Trist (1962) had some subsequent influence on theoretical

discussions by Ås (1962) and Knox (1961). Gadourek (1965) described the latter as ‘dynamic conflict’ theories. The

conflict is located within the individual, and whether a person stays or withdraws is the result of a complex in incentives

and stresses.

Social Exchange

Chadwick-Jones(1982) presented a case for the theory of absenteeism that is social, not individual in emphasis. As

a first step Chadwick-Jones (1982) assumed the interdependency of members of work organisations. It seems obvious

that individuals do have some mutual obligations to peers, subordinates, and superiors (as well as other relationships

outside the work situation). In this context the rights and duties of individuals are both subject to, and representative of, a

set of rules about activities in the work situation. What individuals do is therefore likely to be in answer to, on behalf of, in defence of, as well as achieving a compromise with the rules of the group.

The second assumption made by Chadwick-Jones (1982), is that under the employment contract, some form of

social exchange is taking place between employers and employees. Whatever they exchange in this situation – whether it

be their time, effort, or skill or money, security, congenial friends, or anything else- it will be only what is possible for

employees in the organisation. Exchanges may be conceived as between individuals and work groups, or between work

groups and management, but it would not be realistic to conceive of the exchange between ‘the individual’ and ‘the

organisation’ while disregarding the social conditions and rules.

Chadwick-Jones think of social exchange between employees and employers as developing in, or as revealed by, a

pattern of behaviour in the work situation that includes absences with all the other factors that constitute the contract,

formal and informal, between employers and employees. Formal factors include pay, hours, disciplinary rules, job duties,

and promotion lines. Informal ones include supervisory styles, peer group relations, and – salient to their analysis –

absence from work. Chadwick-Jones (1982) however, do point out that absences may not enter into the exchange at all, insofar as some employees or employee groups, especially those with higher status – supervisors in factories, managers

in banks – are absent very little or hardly at all. It is quite possible, however, that managers possess greater control over

the allocation of their working time and may take periods of ‘time out’ that are not recorded.

Withdrawal According to Chadwick-Jones (1982), absence from work, where work is defined by the employee’s presence at a

particular location (office or workshop) for a fixed period each day, can be interpreted as an individual act of choice

between alternative activities; as withdrawal or escape from surveillance; as individual or group resistance to an

inflexible system. Thus, absence may also be viewed as a stratagem in inter-group relations, as a defensive or aggressive

act in inter-group conflict (Chadwick-Jones et al., 1982). For the purpose of this research this theory has relevance, as the

reasons for absence behaviour could be related to a choice of alternative activities instead of attending work.

Non-Attendance Another definition of absenteeism refers to the non-attendance of employees for scheduled work (Gibons, 1966;

Johns, 1978; Jones, 1971). The definition distinguishes absenteeism from other forms of non-attendance that are arranged

in advanced (e.g. vacations) and specifically avoids judgments of legitimacy associated with absent events that are

implied by as sick leave. This definitional emphasis seeks to focus on the key organisational consequences of

unscheduled non-attendance – instability in the supply of labor to the organisation resulting in the disruption of

scheduled work processes and the loss of under utilisation of productive capacity (Allen, 1981; Jones, 1971, Nicholson,

1977). For this research this definition will be applicable, as the researcher will not take into account absences due to

vacation leave and sick leave taken over more than three days.

Organizationally Excused Vs Unexcused In terms of distinguishing among types of absence, one simple distinction that previous studies (Blau, 1985;

Cheloha & Farr, 1980; Firzgibbons & Moch, 1980) made is between organisationally excused versus organisationally

unexcused absences. Based on these studies, it seems that organisations operationalise excused absence to include

(within defined limits) categories such as personal sickness, jury duty, religious holidays, funeral leave, and


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transportation problems. However, as Johns and Nicholson (1982) noted, absence behaviour can have a variety of

meanings for individuals. This research will focus on the organizationally unexcused type of absenteeism.

Involuntary Vs Voluntary March and Simon (1958) on the other hand, distinguished between two basic types of absences: involuntary (e.g.

certified sickness, funeral attendance) and voluntary (e.g. vocation, uncertified sickness). Voluntary absences are under the direct control of the employee and are frequently utilised for personal aims. Conversely, involuntary absences are

beyond the employee’s immediate control. Hence, voluntary rather than involuntary absences from work may reflect job

dissatisfaction and lack of commitment to the organization.

A Four-Category Taxonomy Blau and Boal (1987) presented a four-category taxonomy describing the meanings of absence. These categories are

medical, career enhancing, normative and calculative .In the medical category, absence is viewed as a response to various

infrequent and uncontrollable events (illness, injury, fatigue, and family demands). If such an absence (medical)

occurred, it probably would be operationalised as a sporadically occurring excused absence (Blau & Boal, 1987). In the

career enhancing category, absence is depicted as a mechanism that gives the employee a further choice to pursue task-

and career-related goals.

For the normative category, absence is viewed less as a motivated behaviour and more as a habitual response to the norms of the work group (organisation) regarding absence (Blau & Boal, 1987). As such, this type of absence probably

would operationalise as a consistently occurring excused absence. Thus, for this group, it would be expected not only to

predict frequency, but also when absenteeism will happen.

Finally the calculative absence is viewed as a coin of exchange (Blau and Boal, 1987; Johns & Nicholson, 1982) in

either fulfilling or modifying the implicit social contract between the employee and employer, and as a time allocation

strategy for enhancing non-work outcomes. This type of absence would be operationalised in terms of the employee

using a certain number of excused and unexcused absences permitted by the organization, depending on how much the

employee felt he or she should modify the implicit social contract. It could be predicted that an extremely apathetic

employee (low job involvement and organizational commitment) would take full advantage by using both kinds of

absence. Thus, the absolute frequency and total number of days absent should be greatest for workers who are the most

apathetic.

Actions to Reduce Absenteeism The industrial society survey found that the top ban most effective ways of managing attendance adopted by

the 486 respondents were.

1. Accurate monitoring 57%

2. Return to work policy 50%

3. Written absence policy 50%

4. Training of line managers 37%

5. Motivation 37%

6. Discipline 36%

7. Communicating absence rates 33%

8. Senior management commitment 27%

9. Performance appraisal 26%

10. Team working 21%

Jackson (1994) in study based upon a sample of 550 employees found that the causes of excessive absenteeism were as

follows

A. Poor work habits 6%

B. Personal adjustments 9%

C. Dissatisfaction 16%

D. Irresponsibility 17%

E. Outside difficulties 17%

F. Sickness or fatigue 35%

1. Mann and Baumgartner (1952) report a study typical of the University of Michigan Group. They compared the

attitudes of high and low absentee rate employees. The investigators found that a more favorable attitude toward

supervisor and a more favorable feeling about work associates accompanied lower absentee rates for both blue –

and white-colla r workers. According to their study absenteeism rises as supervising quality decreases.

2. In a study of absenteeism of 4 major textile mills in Delhi – covering a period of 4 years-1960 to 1963 –Made by

The Shri Ram Centr e for industrial relations, the following facts were revealed.

· About 40% of total yearly absences occurred with the permission of management · About 25% were due to sickness and accidents and were granted by ESI.

· The remaining 35% were caused by workers’ unauthorized absenteeism

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The questions in the questionnaire are framed on the basis of the factors responsible for absenteeism.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Analysis using simple random sampling


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Demographic details:

AGE OF THE RESPONDENTS

Age No. of respondents Percentage

20-30 79 79

31-40 19 19

41-50 2 2

Total 100 100

INFERENCE It is inferred that 79% of the employees who participated are in the age group of 20-30, 18% come under the

category of 30-40 and only 2% belongs to the category of 40-50.

SEX OF THE RESPONDENTS

Sex No. of respondents Percentage

Male 38 38

Female 62 62

Total 100 100

Male

Female

INFERENCE It has been inferred that 62% of the employees who participated in the survey are female and the remaining 38%

come under male category.

Marital Status No. of Respondents Percentage

Single 64 64

Married 33 33

Divorced 0 0

Widow 3 3

Total 100 100

Single

Married

Divorced

Widow


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INFERENCE It has been inferred that 64% of the employees who participated in the survey are single and 33% of the

respondents are married. Rest of them are categorized under the category of widows.

General causes for employee absenteeism:

No. Causes Strongly Agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

1. Other sources of income 15 14 44 10 16

2. Higher studies 40 39 17 2 -

3. Time for personal activities 41 20 22 14 -

4. Health problems - 6 48 26 16

5. Employee’s commitment 12 19 35 23 6

6. Transportation problems 4 7 31 34 18

7. Family responsibilities 8 1 11 41 32

8. Lack of interest 31 23 11 15 12

0

10

20

30

40

50

Strongly Agree


Other sources of income

Other sources of income

INFERENCE

It has been found that 15% and 16% of the employees absent themselves because of other businesses, since their

income is not enough for their family expenses. Whereas among the remaining some are neutral and some strongly

disagree to this statement. This clearly shows that very minimum number of people are engaged in some other business

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

Higher Studies

Higher Studies


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INFERENCE

40% of the respondents strongly agree that they had to concentrate in their higher studies which make them to take

leave, since most of the employees working in the organisation are freshers, coming under the age group of 20-30 and

they just work here to gain some experience.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Strongly Agree


Time for personal activities

Time for personal activities

INFERENCE

41% of the respondents strongly agree that they don’t get time for their personal activities because of their tight

schedule and heavy work which becomes a major factor to make them absent

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Strongly Agree


Health Problems

Health problems

INFERENCE

Most of the employees disagree to the fact that health problems make them absent from their work and only 6% of

them agree that their health gets affected often.

0

10

20

30

40

Strongly Agree


Employee's commitment

Employee's commitment

INFERENCE This pie chart shows that 23% and 6% percent of the employees disagree and strongly disagree to the fact that their

absence doesn’t affect the company’s output. Anyway this ratio is less because only employees at high level are really

feeling committed towards their work.


31

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Strongly Agree


Transportation Problems

Transportation Problems

INFERENCE

Only 4% and 7% of the employees strongly agree and agree to this statement whereas the remaining ar e

comfortable reaching their workplace since most of the employees recruited were residing close to their workplace and

most of them were found to have two wheelers and four wheelers.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Strongly Agree


Family Responsibilites

Family responsibilites

INFERENCE

41% and 32% of the employees disagree and strongly disagree that their worklife is affected by their family

responsibilities this shows that they were able to able their work and family because the company doesn’t give any home

assignments and projects to the employees.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Strongly Agree


Lack of Interest

Lack of interest

INFERENCE

31% and 23% of the employees strongly agree and agree to the statement that they are not into the right job since most of them were engineering and science graduates who were doing the job of diploma holders and typewriters.


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Factors responsible for employee’s absenteeism at the workplace:

No. Causes Strongly

Agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Disagree

1. Employee satisfaction 20 26 28 11 14

2. Stress level of employees 58 22 10 5 3

3. Pay scale 50 27 15 2 3

4. Loneliness at the workplace 8 3 40 30 15

5. Routine work causes boredom 12 41 11 21 10

6. Working conditions - - 34 4 56

7. Welfare measures 2 - 29 6 56

8. Shift basis- drawback 40 20 12 8 12

9. Lack of motivation 28 11 10 32 10

10. Colleagues co-operation 11 5 - 60 14

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Strongly Agree


Employee Satisfaction

Employee Satisfaction

INFERENCE

It has been inferred that 20% and 26% 0f the respondents were dissatisfied with their job because most of them felt

that they didn’t fit in with the task allotted to them and some felt that they were dominated by their higher officials and

didn’t get any freedom to share their views.

010203040506070

Strongly Agree

Agree Netrual Disagree Strongly Disagree

Stress level of Employees

Stress level of employees

INFERENCE

Nearly 58% and 22% of the respondents have agreed that their work is heavy and tiresome which causes stress and

due to stress they absent themselves to relax. This was found to be the majo reason for most of the employees to be absent.

0

20

40

60

Strongly Agree


Pay Scale

Pay Scale

INFERENCE

50% and 27% of the employees feel that the salary given to them is not satisfactory since their work is stressful and


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they don’t get any performance pay even if they work for overtime. They feel that the work assessed to them is greater

and their pay scale is lesser.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Strongly Agree


Loneliness at workplace

Loneliness at workplace

INFERENCE

Only 8% and 3% of the respondents feel lonely at their workplace. This shows that this is a very minor reason for

absenteeism in the company. Because, most of the employees were from the same locality and were found to have been

college mates or schoolmates.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Strongly Agree


Routine work causes boredom

Routine work causes boredom

INFERENCE

41% agree and 12% strongly agree that the same routine work allotted to them causes boredom towards their work

which makes them to absent. This will also lead to lack of interest towards the work.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Strongly Agree


Working Conditions

Working Conditions

INFERENCE

None of the respondents are dissatisfied with their existing working conditions. This shows that they are satisfied with the infrastructure and atmosphere in which they work.


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0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Strongly Agree


Welfare measures

Welfare measures

INFERENCE

It has been found that only 2% of the employees are dissatisfied with the welfare measures adopted by the company

and the rest of them strongly disagree to this statement.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Strongly Agree

Agree Neutral DisagreeStrongly Disagree

Shift basis-drawback

Shift basis-drawback

INFERENCE

20% and 40% of the respondents agree and strongly agree to that shift basis is a strong reason for their absence.

This is because 62% of the respondents who participated in the survey were female, who feel that they are not

comfortable with the night shifts.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Strongly Agree


Lack of motivation

Lack of motivation

INFERENCE

Only 11% and 28% of t he respondents agree and strongly agree that they don’t get proper motivation from their superiors, whereas 32% of the employees disagree to this statement.


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0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Strongly Agree


Colleagues co-operation

Colleagues co-operation

INFERENCE

Only 11% of the respondents strongly agree that their colleagues are not co-operative, whereas 60% of the

respondents disagree to this fact, so it is evident that this factor doesn’t play a major role in absenteeism.

Ranking the general causes using weighted average method:

No. Causes Total Score Average Rank

1. Other source of income 299 2.99 4

2. Higher studies 411 4.11 1

3. Time for personal activities 379 3.79 2

4. Health problems 236 2.36 6

5. Employee’s commitment 293 2.93 5

6. Transportation problems 227 2.27 7

7. Family responsibilities 191 1.91 8

8. Lack of interest 322 3.22 3

INFERENCE: From the above table we can infer that the reason of higher studies was ranked first among the other causes, most of

the employees also feel that they don’t get ample time for their personal activities so it has been ranked second. Lack of

interest towards the job has been ranked third, since most of them expect the right kind of job to be allotted to them.

Ranking the workplace factors using weighted average method:

No. Causes Total Score Average Rank

1. Employee satisfaction 324 3.24 4

2. Stress level of the employees 421 4.21 1

3. Pay scale 410 4.10 2

4. Loneliness at the workplace 247 2.47 7

5. Routine work causes boredom 309 3.09 5

6. Working conditions 166 1.66 9

7. Welfare measures 165 1.65 10

8. Shift basis drawback 344 3.44 3

9. Lack of motivation 288 2.88 6

10. Colleagues co-operation 209 2.09 8

INFERENCE The first main workplace factor was found to be the stress level of the employees. It was also found that most of the

employees were not satisfied with their pay scale. Therefore it has been ranked second. Shift basis was also found be the

third main reason for the employee’s absenteeism in this company.

FINDINGS General factors responsible for absenteeism:

Since most of the employees are working in a temporary basis and pursuing their studies, they tend to be absent to a

greater extent.

Lack of time for recreation and personal needs due to work pressure encourage them to take leave.

Lack of interest towards the job due to over qualification and mismatch of the job makes them to be absent.


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Worklife factors responsible for absenteeism: Employees experience a higher level of stress since their work is heavy and tiresome, which makes them to be

absent.

Most of them feel that they are underpaid because they feel that for the same qualification other companies give

them better compensation. The female employees don’t feel comfortable with all the shifts, mainly the night shifts.

SUGGESTIONS

The company itself should provide support and back-up to its employees by having tie-up with educational

organisations and conducting training programme and seminars once in a while.

The company can help the employees have get together or peer groups at the end of every month.

The people who are overqualified and not suitable for that particular job should not be recruited. The company should allot some time for entertainment in addition to the lunch break and it was found that most of

the employees needed a break at least for alternate Saturdays.

The company can conduct performance appraisal once in 2 months. It can give overtime incentive for people who

work for the organisation in Saturdays. It should also revise and increase the pay scale based on the profits of the

company

CONCLUSION Service industry should be very cautious while recruiting the employees. The company should not solely

concentrate in getting the work done by the employees; it should also give its employees some time for fun and

entertainment. Since this is a fastly developing company here in India, it has to look after that its employees are satisfied

with salary and compensation given to them. The company can try adopting the suggestions given above to reduce

absenteeism in the company. Since most if the employees working here are coming under the age group of 20-30, they

will like to socialize in their weekends with their friends or family, so the company can free them in their Saturdays.

BIBILIOGRAPHY Aswathappa, “Human Resource and Personnel Managemen t”, Tata MCGRAW- Hill Publishing Company limited.

Paneerselvam.R., “Research Methodology” Methods and Techniques, Second Edition.

Likert Rensis, “The Human Organisation” published b y Mc Graw Hill Book Company Limited.

Flippo Edwin B “Personnel Management” published by Mc Graw Hill Book Company Limited.

Tripathi P C “Human Resource Development” published by Sultan Chand &Sons, Educational Publishers.

Tapomoy Deb “Strategic Approaches to Human Resource Management” published by Atlantic publisher.

Dwivedi R.S., Human relations and organizational behavior, 5th edition, publisher by Beri fore Macmillan India ltd., New Delhi.

Biswajeet pattanayak, Human resources management, second edition, published by prentice Hall of India Private Ltd., New Delhi.

Lewis R. Gomez-Mejia, David B. Balkin, Robert L. Cardy, Managing human resources, Third edition, published by rajiv Beri fore Macmillan India ltd., New Delhi.

Gupta, S.P., Statistical Methods, Sultan Chand & Sons Publishers, New Delhi, Thirty Fourth Edition, 2005

Websites: http://www.citehr.com/register.php?do=signup http://www.managementparadise.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-13788.html

http://www.sciencedirect.com/

http://www.absenteeism.com/

http://www.wikipedia.com/

http://www.scribd.com/

http://www.oppapers.com/

Annexures:

QUESTIONNAIRE

A Study on Employee Absenteeism with reference to ‘Y Company’ in Indore, India.

Name: ……………………………

Age

a.) 20-30 b.) 31-40 c.) 41-50

Sex

a.) Male b.) Female

Marital Status

a.) Single b.) Married c.) Divorced d.)Widow(er)

http://www.oppapers.com/


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General factors:

1. I have some other source of income which prompts me to take leave

a.)Strongly agree b.)Agree c.) Nuetral d.) Disagree e.)Strongly disagree

2. I concentrate more on my higher studies when compared to my work

a.) Strongly agree b.)Agree c.) Nuetral d.) Disagree e.)Strongly disagree

3. I am not into the job assigned to me and I am seeking for the appropriate job

a.) Strongly agree b.)Agree c.) Nuetral d.) Disagree e.)Strongly disagree

4. I don’t get enough time to spend with my family

a.) Strongly agree b.) Agree c.) Neutral d.) Disagree e.) Strongly disagree

5. I feel that sickness makes me absent from work often


6. I feel that my worklife is affected by the family responsibilities


7. I feel that my absence doesn’t affect the company’s output

a.) Strongly agree b.) Agree c.) Neutral d.) Disagree e.)Strongly disagree

8. I do absent myself often because of transportation problems


Worklife factors:

1. I am not satisfied with my works

a.) Strongly agree b.)Agree c.) Nuetral d.)Disagree e)Strongly disagree

2. Stress is a part of my work life

a.) Strongly agree b.) Agree c.) Nuetral d.) Disagree e.)Strongly disagree

3. I am not satisfied with the salary and allowances

a.) Strongly agree b.) Agree c.) Nuetral d.) Disagree e.) Strongly disagree

4. I feel lonely while working with others (in your workplace)

a.) Strongly agree b.)Agree c.) Nuetral d.) Disagree e.) Strongly disagree

5. I feel bored with the same routine work

a.) Strongly agree b.)Agree c.) Nuetral d.)Disagree e.)Strongly disagree

6. I don’t feel satisfied with the existing working condition

a.) Strongly agree b.) Agree c.)Neutral d.) Disagree e.) Strongly disagree

7. I am not satisfied with the welfare measures adopted by the company


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a.) Strongly agree b.) Agree c.)Neutral d.) Disagree e.) Strongly disagree

8. Shift basis is a stumbling block for my regularity

a.) Strongly agree b.) Agree c.) Neutral d) Disagree e.)Strongly disagree

9. I don’t get proper motivation from my superiors


10. I am not getting sufficient co-operation from my colleagues


Any other reasons, for your absence, please specify

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………

Any suggestions to reduce absenteeism in your company

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………….

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